This invention relates in general to braiding machines used to braid a covering over an article such as a wiring harness and, in particular, to a continuous operable automatic braiding machine which automatically periodically advances the finished braided product after a braided covering has been formed thereabout enabling continuous braiding uninterrupted by the necessity of manually advancing the finished braided product in order to continue the covering operation.
In fabricating wiring harnesses for routing to such things as instrument panels, it is highly desirable to cover the wire harness with a braided covering in order to protect and route the wiring to a desired location. To this end, such wire harnesses are passed through a mechanical braiding machine, such as a Model No. E10 Series 48 braider available from New England Butt Co., which functions to mechanically braid a covering over the wire harness. While such a mechanical braiding machine is preferable to a manual braiding operation, when utilizing such machines to produce a large diameter braid, the braiding operation must often be frequently interrupted on a regular basis in order to move the braided wire harness to permit further covering.
For example, after the braiding machine is started and a portion of the wire harness is braided, approximately six inches, the braiding machine must be stopped in order to advance the braided wire harness to permit further braiding. Upon advancing the braided harness, the braiding machine is restarted and the braiding operation permitted to continue until another approximately six-inch braid is formed. At that time the braiding is again interrupted, the braided harness again advanced and the machine again restarted for further braiding. This intermittent operation continues to incrementally cover the wire harness with a braid until the harness braid is completed.
The present invention eliminates such intermittent operation, and permits the braiding machine to operate continuously by automatically advancing the braid covered wire harness as the harness is covered by the braid.